


I have a bad feeling about that

by karaokelover



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Teacher-Student Relationship, Texting
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-01
Updated: 2018-05-01
Packaged: 2019-04-30 23:00:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,072
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14507358
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/karaokelover/pseuds/karaokelover
Summary: Rey Kenobi finds a mobile phone on the way to her university and is able to unlock it. It is the phone of her economic history professor, Ben Solo. She accidentally reads a message of his mom, asking him to finally get married. His reply is that he already has a girlfriend, which is just a lie. His mom asks him to take the ominous girlfriend along to the BBQ party the following weekend.Ben asks Rey to come along to his parents' bbq party as his "fake" girlfriend, otherwise threatening her to take the case of her breaching his privacy to court.





	I have a bad feeling about that

“Why do I always have to be late for economic history classes?” That was the most pressing thought of Rey Kenobi when she dashed along the small hidden path that passed by her favourite coffee shop on the way to the campus. She had no time to admire the blossoming Japanese cherry trees on her right. Neither did she hear the chirping baby birds in the small nest above her.

 

What she did hear was the sound of a Japanese koto. Surprised, she halted and looked around to locate the source of the serene melody. She couldn’t immediately find it, however after standing still and concentrating, her ears told her to check out the grass on her left. And there she found it: with a swift movement of her hand she divided the grass stalks, revealing a mobile phone. A mobile phone with the plucking of a koto ringtone.

 

 _I’ve got a bad feeling about this_ , she thought. Her instinct told her to just leave the device where she found it. However, the owner of that phone must be worried about its whereabouts, she surmised. If it were her she would definitely go crazy out of worry.

 

Rey took the still ringing smartphone, touching it gingerly in order not to leave any scratches. Should she take the call? No, definitely not. And what if the owner was calling? Just when she decided to swipe the green phone sign, the koto sound stopped. All she could see was the locked screen, asking for a 4 digit number. And the clock, showing 10:05.

 

Stars, the lecture had already started 5 minutes ago. Rey had to hurry - today was the day everybody had to hand in an assignment that counted for half of the grade. No time to find the owner – that had to wait until after classes.

 

The clock showed 10:10 when Rey finally took a seat next to her friend and housemate Rose. “Where have you been? Luckily Prof. Solo has not arrived yet” the normally cheery girl said to her with a worried look on her face. “You won’t believe it if I told you. On the way to…”, Rey started to explain when the infamous economic history professor entered the room. And of course, he shot her an angry look.

 

“If you have so much time on your hand to be able to talk, and I do hope that you were conversing about the economic situation in medieval Japan, then I of course assume that you have prepared well for today’s topic. Miss Kenobi, what was the most important deed of Oda Nobunaga in regards of economy?” Professor Solo’s voice was even more grating than usually.

 

Luckily Rey loved everything about Japan and especially about the time of the warring states era, so it was easy for her to answer. She gave him a defiant look while answering.

 

“Well, Oda Nobunaga knew that economy was really important, and he wanted to unify Japan and centralize the administrative system. In my opinion, his greatest deed was that he created a professional army. That way the farmers could concentrate on cultivating fields and the quality of the soldiers grew, giving him a huge advantage over the other daimyos. He also abolished several taxes to encourage trade.”

 

Returning the same look, Solo replied smugly. ”While current history doesn’t seem to be your forte”, (of course he was referring to her last examination where she barely passed) “it occurs to me that you are an expert in regards to anything relating to anime and Japan. Some people might call that nerdy”.

 

When he finished the sentence he purposefully lowered his eyes onto her shirt which starred Himura Kenshin, a character of “Rurouni Kenshin”, an anime taking place in the Meiji period of Japan (1868-1912).

 

Rey felt embarrassed. As a result of getting up late – somehow her alarm clock had not rang (or maybe it had and she had deactivated it unconsciously – she should really go to bed earlier instead of reading fanfictions of her favourite medieval anime until 3 am) – she had forgotten to change from her sleeping shirt to a “normal” attire.

 

“At least Kenshin is a gentleman”, she muttered and hoped that that pompous ass of a professor did not hear it. Solo only mockingly rose his left eyebrow and made his way to the front table and waited for everybody handing in their assignment. Mr. Solo didn’t like receiving assignments by mail. He liked the good old way of paper. Rey wordlessly placed her paper on the table.

 

Just let the lecture finish quickly, Rey wished. She had to hand in the found phone to the lost and found service. She didn’t like it having some unknown person’s belongings. Usually Prof. Solo did not finish on time, especially if the lecture’s topic was about people who were different and didn’t keep to normal standards of that time. And Oda Nobunaga was exactly that kind of ruler. Not caring about his rank in society. Behaving in a bizarre way (for that time anyway), not adjusting to what other people wanted him to do.

 

Rey really liked how her normally despicable professor talked about all the deeds of Nobunaga, including the introduction of firearms, a way of fighting which was not honourable for the Japanese people at that time. But what did Nobunaga care? The outcome was what counted. Don’t care about what others think, just do your thing. Maybe Rey should also keep more to that refreshing slogan.

 

A quick look at her watch showed 12:20 – the lecture should have ended already 5 minutes ago. Finally, a student from the back row rose his arm to tell Prof. Solo that “time was over”.

 

“We see each other next week, same place, same time. I am already looking forward to reading your elaborately written assignments!” Then he muttered something about hating having to rely on digital tools.

 

Rey didn’t really take care – she had different things on her mind. What if the lost and found office was already closed? Rey remembered it was only open until noon. “Rose sorry, I promised we go to the new ice cream shop, but something urgent came up. I’ll call you later.” With that she grabbed her bag and headed to the door as fast as she could.

 

 _Maybe if I run, there is still somebody there?_ So she sprinted to the main building. If she remembered correctly it was on the second floor. When Rey arrived, the door was of course locked. A signboard said: opening hours weekdays 9  - 12:15.

 

She knocked on the door and shouted: “Is anybody there?”

 

Of course, there was no answer. Rey contemplated whether she should wait until tomorrow or whether she should go to the local police office. On the way back, her lovely professor came along the way. They ignored each other. What was his problem with her anyway? It was her thing if she liked anime. Not even he, a guy knowledgeable in the field that interested her, (with good looks, she begrudgingly added in her mind), had the right to make her feel embarrassed.

 

Though, she wondered, if he knew so much about Japanese history, it might be possible he also liked its country and culture. If he were not such a jerk, she would go to his office hours and have a nice conversation with him, getting maybe even more information about her beloved country and its history. Having connections with people in the field of her interest might be helpful in the future.

 

And she had always wondered how a guy as young as him (she guessed him at about 30 years old) could hold the position of an assistant professor. She was in the last year of her master studies of international economics and already 26 years old. Maybe he was older than he looked.

 

She needed a cup of hot chocolate – now. Luckily the café on her way back home had great hot chocolate and blueberry cupcakes. Lando’s was a great place for relaxing a little before continue studying or writing on her assignments.

 

The end of the semester was not far away and the deadlines all kinds of seminar papers, presentations and group works didn’t make things easier.

 

The nice smell of roasted coffee beans and cinnamon wafted into Rey’s nose when she dropped into one of the cosy and soft chairs. She took out the mobile phone, turning it around to maybe find some hint of whom it belonged. On the backside there was a small sticker saying “Kylo” in black letters.

 

Who or what was Kylo? Rey touched the display. Immediately she was asked for the code. She tried 0000, 1234, 4321 and some other combinations. Of course it didn’t work. Suddenly she got the idea to enter her birthdate – May fourth. 0504. And miraculously the lock screen disappeared. In its place a screen which looked like the mailbox appeared. The opened string of mails read:

 

**Date: April, 12**

Time: 20:21

From: Mother

To: me

Ben, I know that you don’t like talking about it, but you really need to find yourself a wife soon. Somebody who loves you the way you are. You know I love you dearly, but I am your mum. Staying alone is not healthy.

 

Time: 22:02

From: me

To: Mother

Thank you very much for your concern, however I assure you that there is nothing to worry about. On the contrary. I do believe the way my life is right now is perfect as it is.

 

Time: 22:05

From: Mother

To: me

Do you remember your childhood friend Anna? She has grown into a beautiful and intelligent woman I must say. I have invited her over for BBQ next weekend. Of course I expect you to come – your dad’s coming too.

 

Time: 22:08

From: me

To: Mother

Actually, I have a confession to make – I recently found somebody whom I am interested in. Thank you very much for your efforts but I do not wish to be the object of your love planning. Good night.

 

Time: 22:10

From: Mother

To: me

Oh, that sounds great – do bring her along to the BBQ party – dad just said he is going to prepare your favourite bacon wrapped wiener sausages. Have a wonderful night, boy. Love you, mum

 

Time: 22:15

From: me

To: Mother

I’ll think about it. She is a little shy and I am not sure if bringing her along when we don’t know each other that much yet, is a good start.

 

Time: 22:16

From: Mother

To: me

Don’t worry, I am sure she will enjoy herself. Your dad is so eager to meet her.

 

End of the conversation.

 

When Rey scrolled down she saw that a note with the title “important things to do this week” was attached to the conversation. She clicked on it, without thinking. Normally she was not a nosy person, but she just had to know what was so important to the owner of the phone to write in on a list – in context with his girlfriend. Rey was a sucker for romance. She had been kind of surprised that from one message to the other he suddenly DID have someone he cared for. Really fishy.

 

The note read:

Never tell my mum about any girlfriends anymore, even though they do not exist.

 

Find an escorting service that offers something similar to “girlfriends for rent”.

 

Check if the latest episode of “ameagari no you ni” has already been aired and translated.

 

 

After Rey had read the first 3 points on the list, the phone suddenly started to ring again. She contemplated again whether she should take the phone call and finally decided to go for it. Just in case, she changed her voice to a shrieking high pitch.

 

Swiping the income calling sign, she screeched. “Who’s there?”

 

An all too familiar voice answered. “I’d like to ask the same question. And I do believe I have all the reason to be provided with this information as I am the rightful owner of this phone.”

 

 

O H  M Y  G O S H! That was Prof. Solo’s angrily snarling voice. Shit. That meant it was her economic history professor’s phone. And she had read HIS messages. And his To-do-List. And on the process, she had discovered something a student should never know about their professor.

 

But more importantly, what should she tell him? Something like – hi professor, here is one of your favourite student NOT.

 

Anyway, she had to tell him the truth. In fact, she had found his mobile phone. If she hadn’t found it, maybe somebody with a not so nice agenda would have taken it.

 

“Actually, it is me. Rey Kenobi. We have just had the pleasure to see each other about half an hour ago. I may not be one of your favourite students, but I swear I wanted to hand in your phone to the lost and found office just before. Unfortunately, it was already closed when I arrived there. And truth to be said, that was your fault. If you had finished the lesson on time I could have ….”

 

A sharp inhaling sound stopped her right there, followed by a voice with restraint anger. Every single word was distinctly pronounced. After every other word he seemed to try and calm down, but without a lot of success.

 

“I beg your pardon, but would you please stop your pointless rumbling. Let’s get to the point. Where are you now, Miss Kenobi? I do not really care about the background story of what you were doing with my property. Honestly speaking, the only thing I would like to ask you is to hand back what is rightfully mine in the swiftest manner possible.”

 

The usually defiant Rey answered in a small voice. “At Lando’s, the coffee place not far away from the Tatooine River.”

 

“Stay where you are, I will be there in 5 minutes. I presume that you have my phone with you.”

 

“Yes”

 

Dreading the inevitable meeting, Rey sat at the table like a ghost, staring at professor Solo’s mobile phone. All her appetite for the hot chocolate and the blueberry cupcake in front of her had faded, being replaced by a foreboding feeling that something bad would happen soon.

 

She chided herself, telling her inner worry that everything was going to be ok. She didn’t do anything wrong. Except reading the messages. And the note… which brought her back to something else.

 

How was she even able to access the messages? Why did she get the lock code right? Did Solo know her birthday? Chances were he could access to the birthdates of his students but that didn’t serve as a reason to use HER birthday for his phone lock. It didn’t make any sense.

 

The bell attached to the entrance to Lando’s chimed, bringing Rey forcefully back to the situation at hand while also announcing a new guest. She trained her eyes onto the hallway leading from the entrance to the main guest room.

 

It was him. Taking several long strides into her direction, he reached her table within the blink of an eye. Without saying a word, he sat down next to her. For some seconds, Solo seemed to want to say something but didn’t. He exchanged glances between her and his phone.

 

Rey couldn’t stand the silence anymore and finally handed over his phone. “Here. I found it today in the morning lying in the grass next to the Sakura trees. I don’t think it got any damage.”

 

Ben Solo nodded curtly, took the phone from her hands and turned it around – obviously checking for any visible damage. Being satisfied with its condition, he stood abruptly, looked at Rey and pressed out a “Thank you”. Then he turned around with a swift motion, went for the exit and left a befuddled Rey in the coffee shop.

 

If Rey wasn’t already far away from being fond of her professor before, now she was furious.

 

What a jerk! He had no idea what trouble she had because of his freaking phone. Or more like, because he was such a douchebag for losing it in the first place. How could such a person even become history professor? He would much better fit as a prison guard, giving the prisoners one hell of a life. Slave driver. Punk. Freak.

 

Rey didn’t understand herself why she was so freaking out after Professor Solo’s “not so nice” behaviour towards her. What had she expected? That he sincerely thanked her, maybe offered her a cup of coffee or something as a small token of his gratitude for finding his precious phone and handing it back to him, still properly functioning and all? Only when hell froze over.

 

Properly functioning? He hadn’t even checked his phone function-wise. He was only checking for apparent damage, nothing more. Rey didn’t care anymore. She gulped down the remaining hot chocolate, wrapped the nearly whole muffin and stuffed it into her bag. She only wanted to go back home, get into some baggy clothing and read some romantic stories.

 

“Lando, I’m leaving. Thank you so much for your delicious choco-latte and the berry-berry!” Here at Lando’s, the names of the drinks and food were a little different than elsewhere.

 

“Hey Rey, what was that super short meeting with that strange handsome guy before? Anything going on with him?” Lando really liked to know about the private life of his customers. Especially his regulars.

 

“Oh, the freaking one? His appearance might be appealing but his inside is black as could be. So no, nothing going on there. Only one of my professors.”

 

“A professor rushing to your side in the middle of a Friday afternoon? Doesn’t he have anything else to do than angering my favourite guest?”

 

“Apparently no. How about you? Everything’s fine? Has your wife already returned from her trip to India?”

 

“She is coming back today – I’ll get her from the airport in around 1 hour. She messaged me she took so many pictures and that I should not make any plans for tomorrow. She wants to show me all of them. Don’t you wanna join me for the picture show? That way it would be definitely less tiring”

 

“Tell Padme my regards! I’d love to join the two of you, but I have another deadline coming up. University is killing me right now…”

 

“Good luck with your assignments.”

 

“Thank you!”

 

And with that, Rey left.

 

In the meantime, Ben Solo had arrived at his office. When he had called his mobile phone before, he had used his Skype account. There was still so much work to do for him. Some mid term exams had to be graded and the papers from his Economic history class were waiting on his desk. When he reached for the first paper, he suddenly held HER seminar paper in his hands.

 

Such a troublesome girl. He felt a little bad for calling her a nerd. It had happened out of spite as he didn’t want to leave her high and mighty after her correct reply to his question today. He had to give her credit for the answer about Oda Nobunaga. He had not expected her to have such a deep knowledge about the Japanese middle age.

 

Maybe, just maybe a little, was he looking forward to reading her seminar paper. Especially since the topic was “Economy in Japan from the Jomon period up to present”.

 

He just wished that she was into economic history not only when it came to Japan. He didn’t think that she was stupid, maybe just lacking a widespread interest. Maybe it was _up to him_ as her Professor to show her that economy was interesting.

 

Well, of course not only to _her_ , but also to his other students, he added in his thoughts, chiding himself for thinking even one second to have a student whom he would treat differently than the others.

 

Anybody showing interest in his subject was worth his attention. Equal treatment of course was valid for the opposite behaviour. Slacking in his classes was handled in his usual cynical manner with snide remarks. Of course, he had many more chances to show off his mocking demeanour.

 

Had he ever praised any of his students? No. Praising would mean that a student had shown sufficient efforts which would lead, of course, to slacking off. And that was to be avoided at any cost.

 

In any case, he was glad that he got back his phone without any further delay. And luckily, nobody had accessed his phone and had seen any of his comprising messages with his mum. Or worse, his notes regarding the BBQ in 2 weeks. He had better delete everything immediately, now.

 

He put back Rey’s paper and took his phone, entering the code. And then he suddenly felt hot and cold.

 

He remembered clearly that he had closed the note with his to-do-list. However, after unlocking the phone, he stared at said list.

 

That could only mean one thing. She had seen it. Seen something he didn’t want anybody to see. Especially not one of his students. Especially not HER.

 

He had no idea how she had managed to crack the security code. But somehow, she had done it.

 

Without further thinking, he jumped into action. His phone still in his hands, he hurried along the hallway, through the entrance hall and back to the café.

 

Just when he came to the crossing point of the streets leading to Lando’s and the other path down the road he took in the morning (He had decided one week ago that while the weather was nice and warm he would walk from his apartment to university. This morning however – due to a reading session he had gone to bed a long time after midnight – he had woke up late and therefore drove to the nearest parking and then had to run all the way from the parking space to class. That was most probably also the time when he had dropped his phone), he saw something familiar out of the corner of his eyes.

 

Her. Walking along the path he had come from several hours ago. Her stance was slouched, and she was only one small step after another.

 

Apparently, she had just left the café, most probably on her way back home.

 

He spun around and dashed off after her. He wasn’t quite sure what to say to her. He would just have to come up with something. Anything would do.

 

When he had reached her, he grabbed her right shoulder and turned her around.

 

She made a small shriek and when she finally recognized her professor, she gaped at him with big eyes.

 

No time for thinking – just confront her with what is bugging you, his mind supplied.

 

“You saw it!” he pressed out between deep breaths, trying to gulp down some much-needed air.

 

“What?”

 

She seemed to be really shocked, having no idea why he was standing in front of her, still panting.

 

“The list, the messages!” He bit out every single word.

 

Her eyes grew as big as saucers. After some moments, she nodded slightly.

 

“That is trespassing any private data law worldwide! I could get you into jail without any problems!” he roared furiously at her – finally finding a way to get the stress out of his system. How embarrassing. He had never felt so awkward in his life before.

 

“I am sorry?” Rey tried, voice small.

 

“Do you think a simple ‘sorry’ resolves this mess?”

 

“Professor, I didn’t do it on purpose! It is up to you to believe me, though…” And after some seconds she added: ”There is not much else I could say or do to show my regret, now is there?!”

 

Ben Solo looked into her eyes, trying to find any hint of ulterior motives, besides her defiance. For added pressure on her mental state, he put his hands on her shoulders. Such a delicate body, he realized when getting in contact with her, and at the same time comprehended that he had invaded her private space without even thinking about it twice.

 

Strangely, he couldn’t discover anything in her eyes that could be interpreted as negative intentions against him. On the contrary, he felt his raised nerves finally and slowly calming down. Her big worried eyes were a sign that she was still on edge (who wouldn’t) but she did not avert them from his stare. Nor did she falter or try to move away from him.

 

Before the situation could get any more awkward, he let go of her and made a step back. Something had suddenly come to his mind. Something **_outrageous_**. Something that was not like him at all. But he didn’t care. For once, he wanted to jump out from his role of being professor jerk. And maybe become even a bigger jerk on the way.

 

“Ms Kenobi, in fact, there IS something that could stop me from taking this matter to court.”

 

The sudden change of his voice made Rey jump slightly. Before, it was biting, even ferocious. Now it had a feeling of sweet honey with the slightest hint of lemony bitterness.

 

Rey was sure that it would be better for her not to ask what he was talking about, but she did anyway. Like a mouse being enticed by a piece of cheese that was placed on a trap, luring its prey to inevitable death. “And what would that be?”

 

“In fact, you already know all the details, don’t you? They were on the list you have read and are also laid out in detail in the mails between my mother and me.”

 

Rey made an incredulous face. He couldn’t mean what came to her mind immediately. The BBQ party. His mother. His father. Him… and … the non-existent girlfriend. That now DID exist. Played by her.

 

“I am not sure what you are talking about…” Rey tried to get away from the scene that had evolved into something she had not seen coming at all. She needed to get rid of the impossible picture displayed in her mind.

 

She, eating nice food in the nice garden with his nice parents. With her not so nice Professor. Holding nicely hands with him. Showing them a behaviour that did not let come up any doubts about how genuine their relationship was. Blood rushed to her face.

 

Stop that! She chided herself. That was definitely not what he wanted her to do.

 

“Oh, is that so?”

 

“Ah, if you are referring to the latest episode of _ameagari no you ni_ – it is already out, including subtitles. Though, I have watched the RAW beforehand, don’t need the subtitles.”

 

Now it was him who was staring at her with an unbelieving look. “Does that mean you can speak Japanese?” She nodded.

 

Then another thing came to his mind. Now she also knew about his well-kept secret that he was watching anime. Not that it was already the most awkward situation he could ever imagine –  the white lie he told his mother. Could he even feel more embarrassed?

 

_And let’s not forget what I am about to ask her._

That last thought made him sober up. He could be impressed by the fact that she was able to understand anime without subtitles _later_.

 

“No, that was not what I meant. I am very sure that the list made clear what I urgently needed to get done for the BBQ party with my parents.”

 

OMG. Hadn’t she recently read a story that included a similar incident? At that time, she had thought that something like that would never happen in real life. Nobody in their real mind would ask somebody to act out as their girlfriend. In front of their parents. And BELIEVE that the act would not go undiscovered.

 

“Right, the list. So there was the thing with the anime and then the BBQ party at your parents place. Your parents seem to expect you to come with your girlfriend… which you stated on the list you still have to come up with, so to say. How’s it going? Have you already found a suitable person?”

 

Uh oh, wrong question. But it was already too late – he stared straight at her and said in a both threatening and charming voice.

 

“Oh, I think I have just found somebody who will gladly accept my proposal due to certain circumstances. “

 

“I am sure that this somebody is nobody I know and of course your private life is nothing of my concern. But I am happy that you have already found a suitable person.”

 

“On the contrary, Miss Kenobi. I know for certain that you know her quite well.” He glanced once more at her.

 

No need to beat around the bush, he told himself. In fact, it was the best solution he could come up with and it presented itself just in time. Finding himself a real girlfriend, even if he wanted to, was a quest he was not sure he would be able to bring to a successful ending.

 

He just wasn’t boyfriend material. A history buff, in love with anime and with some distinct whims and character qualities that would have any girl in her right mind run off as fast as she could.

 

Neither did he think about Rey as girlfriend stuff. Who would want a girl who was watching anime and even showed that she did? At least that counted for your average guy. Only nerds were watching anime. Come to think of it…

 

Well, actually it would not be so bad to have somebody to watch his favourite series together with. About her personal traits he couldn’t really say much. She seemed to be headstrong and honest. Cross that last one out – she did not mention that she was able to get access to his phone. That was really bugging him. He definitely had to ask her how she did that.

 

But one step after another. He had to convey to her that she was to be coming along to his parents.

 

“I am talking about YOU. And you know you cannot deny my request after reading my private messages without my consent. And I don’t think there is any boyfriend around the corner who would object. Or is there?”

 

Rey seemed to want to retort something about the boyfriend whom he thought did not exist. She opened her mouth and then closed it again. Like a fish breathing under water. And again those big eyes, looking at him.

 

“Are you for real? I mean, I am your student!” she finally shouted at him.

 

Ah, that was the first concern that came to her mind? Interesting. He had expected something like “you are too old for me” or “I would never go out with you” or something along the line that she did not like his appearance. _Or that she had a boyfriend._

 

“Remember, the seminar paper is handed in and the last session is this week. After that, our professional professor-student relationship is over.”

 

 _And our private one will start_. Well, at least for my parents, Ben added in his thoughts.

 

 _Right_. Rey had to admit that she had completely forgotten that the course was a blocked lecture and only lasted half a semester, ending next week.

 

“That might be true. But do you really think that I can properly act as your girlfriend? In front of your parents?” Hell, she had not been the girlfriend to anybody in her whole life. How could she pose as the one of her professor?

 

Again. Once more, an answer he had not seen coming. Like before, he had anticipated that she would say something negative about him. Something that showed how stupid she thought about the ludicrous idea he had acted upon right after it found its way into his brain. His brain which did not seem to work properly today.

 

But she had not said anything about that she found the idea repulsive. What was wrong with her? To tell the truth he had thought that she would say something offensive to him and would not even consider his suggestion.

 

On second thought, what was wrong with HIM to even get the idea to asked HER. Until today he had not really given her any special thought. But then, everything that had transpired today was not to be considered normal.

 

Losing his phone, then being late for class (the first time in his whole life), finding her casually talking and not even noticing him when he finally entered the seminar room. He hated being ignored, and to make matters worse, today he had already been on high tension which had led to him lashing out at her twice.

 

First tackling her with a question he thought she were not able to answer anyway. And then to finally proof his superiority to her, he had to go for underhanded measures. He should be really ashamed of himself to sink so low. There was no way that she would agree to his proposal.

 

But back to the conversation at hand.

 

She was right, she was his student. And she was most probably right that the stage play would not convince his parents, neither his inquisitive mother nor his nosy father. But she had not said NO. That was a good sign.

 

“I suggest we talk about the details at my place – honestly, I don’t like talking about something so private somewhere where everybody could overhear it. We are not far away from university. Don’t you agree?”

 

“Ahm, ok?” she said dumbfounded when he casually took her hand and led her to his car. Luckily, the parking lot was not far away. Solo pressed the button of the remote control of his car, a _black_ Porsche. Of course. He motioned her to the seat next to the driver’s seat.

 

However, before she entered his car, she looked beseechingly into his eyes. “This is not going to be some kind of abduction attempt, right?”

 

“If you don’t trust your professor, how about trusting somebody who is watching the same anime as you do?”

 

That worked. She let herself fall into the comfortable seat and watched Professor Solo as he closed her door and walked back to the driver seat side. She had never thought about him as somebody who liked the same or at least similar things as she did.

 

After a 5-minute drive, they arrived at a flat roof house just outside the city, surrounded by a small lovely garden and several Sakura trees in full bloom.

 

Rey had no idea what was awaiting her inside, but she liked the outside of his place.

 

Like a perfect gentleman, Professor Solo opened the door for her and led her to the entrance.

 

“This is where I live.” Somehow, he hoped that his place was to her liking.

 

With that he unlocked the front door. He took off his shoes and Rey followed suit.

 

“Welcome to the Solo residence, my private refuge where I can be myself and do what I want.”

 

He sounded like a small boy who did something his parents wouldn’t approve of. A side which Rey had never seen before in him. She had to admit that she liked it. Refreshing and not so unapproachable as she had seen him before.

 

What she had seen so far of his apartment was not bad at all. It had a modern touch but was not cold. In fact, she felt quite welcome by the dark wood furniture and the not overly decorated living room/kitchen combination.

 

“Please take a seat – I’ll get us something to drink. Anything special you want?”

 

Thinking about the situation she had never imagined one hour ago, she definitely needed something strong. If Rey liked alcohol she would have asked him for some whiskey. But she despised alcohol – a side effect of having lived with a custodian whose alcohol stench had hit her every time she came back from school, followed by shouting and occasional beating. Alcohol which had killed her parents in an accident with a guy who drunk drove and had hit her dad’s car in the process.

 

Ben suddenly remembered that she had been drinking hot chocolate at the café. “I have hot chocolate, or maybe some matcha latte?”

 

“I would love to have a cup of matcha latte!”

 

“Matcha latte it is then.” Professor Solo whisked up 2 small spoonsful of the green powder with the amount of one glass of milk.

 

Was that guy for real? Rey had never met anybody who had matcha AND hot chocolate in their home. And did the preparation of the drink in way that one could think he did that for a living.

 

“Here we go!” Two creamy matcha latte were transferred on the table on front of her. Next, he sat down next to her.

 

“By the way, I am Ben.”

 

“Nice to meet you… Ben” Rey tried the name on her tongue. Didn’t feel that bad. Ben Solo.

 

“How may I call you besides Miss Kenobi?”

 

Rey thought for a few seconds if she should offer him to be on first name basis as casually as he had. She had nothing to lose. “Rey is how my friends call me.”

 

“Rey.” And after some silence he continued.

 

“I know this situation must be awkward to you. Rest assured _I feel it too_. And I would certainly understand if you were to say that you would not want to play along this game. I admit it was out of the spur of the moment when I was so angry that you read these embarrassing messages and even more the list… I am not good with relationships and I don’t think I would be able to find somebody to act as my girlfriend. True, I could find somebody who is into that kind of business, but I would not feel comfortable.”

 

 _But with you I could at least talk about a topic that we both share mutual interest on_ , he thought.

 

“Truth be told, I was impressed that you knew so much about Oda Nobunaga. I am nearly 100 % sure that I have not mentioned all those details in class.”

 

“There are some anime that are quite detailed about the life of Nobunaga. I got really engrossed by him and have read some books about him.”

 

“That explains it then.”

 

“Back to the topic at hand. Out of the spur of the moment that you like anime, I will try and act as your girlfriend. I am not sure what exactly you have in mind, but be sure I won’t do anything indecent.”

 

“Indecent, such as?” he asked innocently.

 

“Indecent such as kissing or the likes”.

 

“I’ll keep that in mind. Actually, I would like to suggest we set up a list of things that we might be asked by my parents. A list about things that we should know about each other.”

 

 _OMG, that is going to be deep. Have I really agreed to that?_ Suddenly Rey was not so sure if this was such a good idea after all. Was her looking at his messages really such a big thing, justifying what she was getting herself into?

 

“You seem to really like list-making, right?”

 

“Once it is on a list, it has more power. If it is written down, you are much more likely to really do it compared to just saying that you will.”

 

That made sense.

 

“That may be true but isn’t it more personal if we told each other our stories directly?”

 

“Oh well, then please by any means, go ahead. I am here and listening” Ben smiled, showing genuine interest in her.

 

“Ah, where to start. I think I was a pretty normal child. At least up to the time where my parent got killed by a drunk driving guy. As a result I got into custody of the only relative I had left. Another drunkard who made my life anything but nice… Ok, on second thoughts maybe it is better if I wrote down things on a list. I am not good at doing soul strips.”

 

“Sorry to hear that your life hasn’t been so great.”

 

“It’s ok, I am still alive. How about you, Professor, ah, Ben.” How strange to use his first name. It made her feel more relaxed around him. Somehow, she searched a word to name the feeling, connected.

 

“I spent most of my childhood at the boarding school of my uncle. Wasn’t that great either. My parents are not so bad, I guess. My mother is engaged in the local government and my father is working in the car industry. In hindsight, maybe the reason why I am not such a sociable person is that my mother has the amount of sociability of at least 10 people. I guess that comes with the political position she is holding.”

 

“After talking here with you like that I don’t have the feeling that you are antisocial. Actually, I do feel quite comfortable. Really!”

 

“Thank you for the compliment. Same goes to you!”

 

Somehow, during the last several minutes, the air around Rey and Ben had started to gradually change. Where there was a frosty and awkward feeling before, now a warm mellowly sensation filled the space between them.

 

And then, their eyes locked for a few seconds.

 

Of course, exactly then, Ben’s phone rang. The display showed “mother”. When he removed his eyes from her, Rey could swear that there was something in his eyes that she had not noticed before. Something deep, something dark, something that could suck her in. As if to get rid of that feeling, she shook her head.

 

“Rey, are you ok?” Ben had realized her strange stare and the head shaking.

 

“Yes, I am fine. Just take the call, it’s your mum, right?”

 

“Ok. I will make it short.” With those words, he swiped the screen of his phone.

 

“Mother, what is it? If it is not urgent, would it be possible to talk about it later. My girlfriend is here.”

 

_He doesn’t mean me, right? Actually, he does. But not for real. Ahhhh, I am in such a mess._

Ben sent her a quizzical look. While talking with his mum, he kept looking at her. He saw her face turning different shades of red, unbeknownst to Rey.

 

She was still fretting about what she should do or say after his “girlfriend” statement. _Better not react at all. Yes, that’s good. Don’t show any emotions. Be professional. A professional fake girlfriend_.

 

Finally, Ben put his phone away.

 

“Rey, are you really ok? Your face is reddish. Let me check if you have a fever.”

 

“Really, I told you, I am okay.”

 

Ben didn’t care though. He inched closer and brought his hand up to her forehead. It felt slightly warm to his touch, but not feverishly hot.

 

Rey herself was a different story. His presence so close to her did make her feel warm. Warmer than she should have felt. And then his hand slightly brushed her cheekbone before finally resting on her forehead.

 

Again, they locked eyes, Rey looking up at him and Ben glancing down at her.

 

Suddenly, feeling hot himself, Ben removed his hand from her and shuffled back.

 

“Sorry. I didn’t want to make you feel uncomfortable.” His eyes had a certain spark when he looked apologetically at her.

 

“Ah, don’t worry. However, I don’t want to keep intruding your place any longer. Seminar papers and studying for upcoming tests are waiting for me back home. I guess I got to get going.”

 

“I understand. About the BBQ, if you don’t feel like going, I am not pressing you. I understand if you don’t like to come along as my girlfriend.”

 

“Let me think about it. How about we exchange phone numbers?”

 

“That is a good idea, tell me yours and I call you.”

 

“03-6489-1291 is mine”

 

A few seconds later her phone rang. She immediately saved the number under “Ben”.

 

“Well, then I get going now. Have a nice evening.”

 

“It’s getting dark outside. May I offer you a drive back home?”

 

Somehow Rey felt tired and a little forlorn after Ben had removed himself from their close encounter. “I guess I should be saying no, thank you. But today was really stressful after I found your phone and all that. A ride back home sounds nice. So yes, I would like to take up your offer.”

 

Rey felt like a princess. Ben opened the door for her, even closed the door, asked her if the temperature in the car was not too cold and brought her back home safely.

 

They were silent during the drive, both having the events of that day on their minds. Rey glanced sideways at his face. It would be a lie if she said that she didn’t like his appearance. Black silky hair, dark expressive eyes, those full lips… His nose was a little too big for his face but that made it just the more interesting.

 

 _Do not stare at him_ , she scolded herself.

 

How would he treat his real girlfriend? And how come he didn’t have one? She could not deny that during the lessons he had treated her like shit but what she got to see and experience today with him was not bad at all. Professor Ben Solo was a mystery to her.

 

They arrived at her street.

 

“Please let me get off here – I live in that house over there, the one with the blue mailbox.”

 

“As you wish, milady” he said with a grin on his face.

 

She didn’t really look at him when she got out of the car. “I’ll contact you later tonight.”

 

“I’ll be waiting then.”

 

She got out of his car and walked towards the apartment she was sharing with Rose for the last 2 years. Rose was most probably not at home. Rey remembered her friend had said something about not waiting for her this Friday evening as she would be back late.

 

Keep yourself busy or otherwise you will think of this strange guy who is your professor and made you a perfect matcha latte, brought you back home with his car and wants you to be his girlfriend. Make that a fake girlfriend. Too late, I am already thinking about him.

 

Getting rid of her senseless thoughts she took out her textbook for the upcoming statistics examination. She was not really good at mathematics, but she liked it when she could get out something useful of an otherwise meaningless bunch of data collected with the help of questionnaires.

 

She also needed that knowledge for her master thesis. She had been lucky with the topic of her thesis. The Japanese embassy had been working together with the international marketing department of her university and had several research topics on offer. One of them was outgoing tourists to Japan. Out of 15 people applying for the topic she had been selected. Most probably because of her time spent in Japan, she guessed.

 

Even though Rey was not really concentrating on the assignment she somehow was able to get her statistics program to spit out a suitable solution.

 

No energy left for any more studying, she felt her stomach grumbling.

 

Well, then I cook myself some quick teriyaki-chicken and a bowl of miso soup. There was some chicken left from yesterday’s curry which needed to be used up today anyway.

 

Rey turned on some music on Netflix and started to wash the rice, rinsing it 3 times as was necessary with Japanese rice and then let it quell for 30 minutes. In the meantime, she cut the meat into bite size pieces and put it into a frypan.

 

She grated some ginger, squeezing the juice over the meat, followed by adding a slug of sake. Then she fried the meat till it was halfway through. Finally, she poured a mix of mirin, soy sauce and some sugar over the chicken, cooking it over medium heat until the liquid had nearly completely evaporated, leaving a nicely sticky and shiny teriyaki sauce.

 

For the miso soup she took some dashi stock from the freezer. After reheating it, she dissolved red and white miso paste, added diced silk tofu and sliced spring onions.

 

_That is enough for dinner and tomorrow’s breakfast._

 

Rey was used to eat leftover for breakfast, especially as she didn’t have much time in the morning anyway. Staying in Japan for an exchange year and two internships, she had gotten used to eating hearty breakfast, since the Japanese had dishes such as fried fish, egg roll, pickles, rice and of course miso soup already early morning.

 

Also, during her time in Japan, she had started the habit of eating her dinner while watching something on her laptop. And that was what she was doing also tonight. Though, today she felt quite lonely. She quickly finished her food, storing the leftover in the fridge. Then she put the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, added detergent and switched it on.

 

Taking a look at her phone she realized it was only 7 pm.

 

 _I don’t really feel like doing anything anymore today_. She really only wanted to snuggle into her bed and maybe surf the net. Tomorrow she needed to get started early for her part time job. She was teaching beginners Japanese at a nearby language school.

 

Additionally, she also had some private Japanese to whom she taught English. She was actually well sought after as she was able to explain even difficult grammar patterns in Japanese.

 

Maybe I should start a school on my own – then I can finally make use of all the marketing I had to study during the last years.

 

Dreaming a beautiful future was not bad. Not bad at all. With the right guy on her side, it would be perfect.

 

And plop. There he was. Immediately his picture popped up in her mind. Her professor. Or since today in the afternoon: Ben.

 

_Ok. Dreaming about my future is not good. Not good at all. Stop it._

What business did he have in her mind in combination with her future? How could he have no qualms and appear inside her brain when she was expecting him the least.

 

Without further ado, Rey swiftly prepared for bed. Brushing teeth, washing her face, putting fresh pyjamas on (this time with Inuyasha, a demon from, again, an anime taking place in the Japanese feudal age), grabbing her phone and putting herself into bed.

 

_Maybe there I can have some peace of mind._

There was a new message symbol. Did Ben …?

 

No, it was from Rose. She was worried about Rey after she had left the class without telling her any details.

 

And of course, that was the fault of a certain black-haired professor.

 

_I wonder what he is doing right now. Maybe he has already watched ‘ameagari no you ni’._

The last episode was not necessarily what she had hoped for but what could you expect from an anime where the two main characters were on the brink of starting a relationship even though their age difference was no less than 20 years? At least she and Ben were not more than around 5 years apart.

 

How old was he? She needed to know.

 

So just ask him, her minded provided her.

 

And so she did. Rey took her phone, selected ‘Ben’ and started typing.

 

 

Friday, April 13

19:38

Rey: Good evening. I have a question where I would need your honest answer.

 

She took a sip of her glass filled with water.

 

_Maybe he does not check his phone. Best not to expect an immediate answer from him. Or, OMG what if he calls me? I don’t feel like talking with him right now._

Beep-beep. That was fast.

 

19:39

Ben: Just shoot it. I’ll try and answer as long as it is a decent question.

 

Was asking for his age a decent question?

19:39

Rey: I was wondering about your age. I don’t see anything indecent about a simple number, but who knows how you think about it.

 

Ok, it had to be indecent, or maybe he didn’t want to answer, as Rey had to wait for a perceived eternity until she heard the sound which she longed for most at that moment.

19:44

Ben: Now that is a little difficult. Not gonna give the answer flat out to you. What is your guess?

 

Come on, was it so difficult to give a straight answer?

 

19:45

Rey: Early 30s?

 

19:47

Ben: Not bad. What about you?

She hated him. He had not given her a precise answer. Was Mr. Almighty ashamed of his age?

 

19:48

Rey: Younger than you.

 

19:49

Ben: Are you sure?

 

Come on, couldn’t he have a decent chat with her?

 

19:50

Rey: Last time I checked my birthdate, I was not in my 30s yet. Come on professor, spit it out! I am not going to bite you.

 

19:51

Ben: Ok, ok. Here we go: I’ll be 32 in 2 weeks. Happy now?

 

Finally a useful answer. Oh, his birthday was in 2 weeks? Of course not in exactly 2 weeks. Otherwise their birthday would be on the same day.

 

19:53

Rey: As happy as can be. I always knew I was good at guessing people’s age. Actually my birthday is also in 2 weeks.

 

19:54

Ben: Really? Which day?

 

19:55

Rey: May, forth. You?

 

19:56

Ben: You are not kidding, are you? If not, then I know how you were able to unlock my phone.

 

Rey grinned all over her face. Their birthday was on May, forth. They could celebrate together. On second thought, why should they. There were surely a bunch of people who had their birthday on the same date as she had. But today was the first time that she knew somebody like that in person.

 

At least she could get him something for his birthday. She had already made a mental note to order a shirt for him with his favourite anime.

 

19:58

Rey: No kidding. I have had my birthday on May forth for the last 26 years.

 

Ok, now he knew her age too.

 

20:00

Ben: Now that is something surprising. How about a joint birthday party?

 

20:01

Rey: I am sure you will be celebrating with your friends and family. No need for one of your students to crash your birthday party.

 

20:03

Ben: You are not just “one of my students”. And on May, forth, technically you are not one of my students anymore. And what do you mean by “crash”. Are you such a party girl that you are crashing parties for your breakfast?

 

Technically, it was true that she was not his student anymore – they had come to that conclusion already some hours ago – seemed to be an important point to him.

 

But before May forth there was still the BBQ party. She wondered, IF she successfully played the role of his girlfriend, how many more times she had to act in front of his parents as something she was not.

 

20:05

Rey: I am not a party girl. I hate alcohol. Had some not so nice experience with a drunk guy when I was in custody. How about you? I don’t think I could spend time with somebody who needs to have a certain level of alcohol to have fun.

 

20:07

Ben: Good to hear, I prefer to have fun and still remember everything that happened. So no need to worry.

 

Rey wondered what kind of ‘fun’ he was referring to.

 

20:08

Rey: Now I am wondering what kind of fun you are talking about.

 

20:09

Ben: There are lots of ways to have fun, of course without alcohol.

 

Again avoiding a direct answer…

 

20:10

Rey: Maybe when guys talk about fun, they are referring to something different than girls do.

 

20:11

Ben: Then tell me, what is it that you like doing.

 

20:12

Rey: Eating Japanese food. Watching Anime. Singing. Everything about Japan. You?

 

20:14

Ben: Eating tasty food in pleasant company. Watching Anime. Listening to nice singing. Everything about history, also about Japanese warring states era.

 

20:15

Ben: We are not so different, right? I don’t think we will have difficulties at the BBQ party next weekend.

 

20:17

Rey: Similar hobbies don’t mean that we don’t get in a fight or do something awkward which gives your parents the hint that we are not for real. I am not really experienced with going on dates.

 

20:18

Ben: Well, then how about we go on a date? For training purpose.

 

20:20

Rey: A fake date with the fake girlfriend? You pay.

 

20:21

Ben: Of course, I cannot have my poor student girlfriend pay for a fancy Japanese dinner.

 

20:22

Rey: Oh, you know how to push my buttons. I really might agree to a nice Japanese dinner. I miss Japanese food.

 

20:24

Ben: Japanese dinner it is then. What are you plans for this weekend?

 

20:25

Rey: Tomorrow I am on my part time job all afternoon until 8:30 pm, but Sunday evening would be great.

 

20:26

Ben: I hope I don’t seem to nosy, but as your future boyfriend I need to know what you are doing for a living.

 

20:28

Rey: I am mostly teaching Japanese. Though I also teach English to Japanese. Does pay quite nice. And I like it.

 

20:29

Ben: I get the feeling that everything in your life is Japanese. Also your boyfriend?

 

20:31

Rey: As far as I know I don’t have a boyfriend. Besides, maybe a fake boyfriend who threatens me to be his fake girlfriend.

 

20:33

Ben: I am not threatening you to anything. So can I count you in with the BBQ? Or do I have ask my buddy in the law department for support?

 

20:35

Rey: That is not funny.

 

20:35

Ben: Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. If you are really that uncomfortable by my side, then let’s stop this.

 

What was it with him? She didn’t understand him. One second, he sounded too nice to be true. And then suddenly a pranky guy surfaced, teasing her. Making her wonder what was going on with him. The situation was a mess. She didn’t like the thought of being somebody’s fake girlfriend. She didn’t like fake. She liked real, true feelings.

 

20:40

Ben: So if this it then, I still want to thank you for finding my phone and returning it back to me. And sorry for embarrassing you today in class. I was just freaking out because my missing phone. Have a good night, Miss Rey Kenobi.

 

20:44:

Rey: Okay, okay, I’ll do it. Just try to keep your teasing on an adequate level.

 

20:44

Ben: I will try my best for you. So about Sunday: how about I get you at 5:30 pm?

 

20:45

Rey: ok, I will be looking forward then to our ‘date’.

 

20:46

Ben: Great. Looking forward to it too.

 

20:48

Rey: I need to get up early tomorrow and do some more studying and assignments. Not only you and your course are on my mind. Wish you a nice night, Professor Ben Solo.

 

20:49

Ben: I have the freedom of choosing what is on my mind :) though not telling you what that is. Have nice dreams, Miss Rey Kenobi!

 

Rey smiled. Oh, he was so incredulous. Such a teaser!

 

She was really looking forward to their date thing.

 

_Don’t expect too much. It is just a training so that your performance is not going to be blown at first sight._

With that thought, she turned off the light and slowly drifted into a deep slumber.

 

In her dream, she was with Ben. They were sitting at a table at Lando’s, sipping matcha latte and eating rice balls while chatting about Oda Nobunaga’s peculiar younger sister, Oichi.


End file.
